No abstract

Plants have evolved with roots in close contact with the solid phase of the soil. Therefore, root exudates may be a better medium for extracting low molecular size (LMS) organic fractions than currently used alkaline solutions. Our objective was to compare the chemical and biological activity of LMS extracts using maize (Zea mays L.), Picea abies, and Pinus sylvestris root exudates to humic substances (HS) extracted with alkaline solution. Gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) spectra revealed that the LMS fractions had a greater variety of fatty acids than the HS. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of LMS fractions also indicated different amounts of functional groups by comparison with HS. The possible biological role of LMS fractions with respect to HS was assessed by measuring hormone- like activity and nitrate uptake in P. sylvestris seedlings. The LMS fractions from agricultural soil stimulated nitrate uptake and nitrate reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities, whereas those from a forest soil increased ammonium uptake, NR, and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activities. The stimulation of nitrate and ammonium uptake via a NR-GS or NR-GDH metabolic pattern was consistent with the different chemical composition of the LMS fractions. This indicates LMS fractions in soil have consequential affects on the plant’s capacity to adapt to different environmental conditions

A solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) method for the simultaneous determination of the organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), phorate, diazinon, methyl-parathion, fenitrothion, malathion, fenthion, ethyl-parathion and methidathion, has been developed to study their soil/water distribution. The method was used in conjunction with a conventional 'batch equilibrium method' to assess the soil adsorption coefficients (Koc) of the target compounds in different soil samples with known organic carbon content. Contrary to traditional techniques, the present method is fast, solvent-free and highly sensitive, thus permitting the assessment of the Koc values of the target compounds even at low soil concentration levels, close to those encountered in real field contamination, where the Freudlich adsorption isotherms can be considered to be linear. The estimated Koc values were found to be in good agreement with those reported in the literature.

In this paper hydrophilic (HI) and hydrophobic (HO) fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) extracted from soils at different degrees of salinisation were characterised by means of fluorescence spectroscopy in the emission, excitation and synchronous-scan modes. Results provided evidence of the different chemical nature of DOM fractions and allowed to distinguish hydrophilic and hydrophobic fractions extracted from the same soil substrate. The strong decrease in fluorescence intensity observed with the increasing salinity of the soils can be utilised to obtain information on the salinity level of different soil substrates by comparison of spectral fluorescence intensities.

Organic matter can be considered one of the most important indicators of the extent of soil desertification processes. Among the causes of desertification, salinization induced by different factors is raising the greatest concern in the Mediterranean area. In the present research, hydrophilic (HI) and hydrophobic (HO) fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) extracted from soils at different degrees of salinization have been investigated by means of spectroscopic techniques such as tridimensional fluorescence spectroscopy in the mode of emission excitation matrix (EEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The FT-IR spectra were distinctive in differentiating HI from HO fractions and each DOM fraction as a function of soil salinity. The EEM spectra of HO fractions exhibited a shift toward longer emission wavelengths and higher fluorescence intensity (FI) values as compared to that of the HI fractions. These results could be ascribed to the different molecular complexities of HI and HO fractions. Further, a marked quenching effect was observed in the FI of both the DOM fractions with increasing soil salinity, which allowed to obtain immediate information on the soil salinity degree by comparing the fluorescence intensity.